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Rumor Has It
OA is Adele. Second installment of the Sister Series in the Songfic Series. The first installment was Rolling in the Deep. ''Bold italicized lyrics indicate Shadefall's POV. '' Italicized lyrics indicate Fernleaf's POV. Regular text indicates the storyline, either she-cats POV. Since Fernleaf has the complete POV in this book, that's the only things you'll be seeing. Enjoy! Rumor Has It She, she ain't real :She is a small brown tabby with wide blue eyes. She has the perfect kind of face you can only wish to own and her paws are small and delicate. I doubt she even has claws. I do not mean to hate her, but I still do :I glance around. This place is not real. This place made of strange walls and fences and fake plants and no real life...even after days of holding myself in, keeping the pain at bay, this place is not big enough to contain my agony. :I find myself looking back to her. She grooms her paw, lightly lapping it with her tongue. I cannot imagine how she does not look to the forest with longing or seem to be in any pain. Then again, she does not know. :I have been told I killed him. That I knew the end of his life. :But she knows the rest. :And that is why I am here. She ain't gonna be able to love you like I will! :I step out of the bushes, lightly creeping towards her fence, but making enough noise that if she cared to look she would spot me. I make it halfway there before she even looks up. If I was an enemy warrior, she's be dead by now. :I can tell, but the fear in her eyes, the ignorance that there is no way I face any competition in her. Ember was far better suited for me, me out of all of us. :I just wish he could've realized that in time. She is a stranger... :For the first time I doubt myself for coming here. I wanted to find out more about the tom my Clan so callously killed, just because he was in love with me and my sister. :I told Shadefall about it, feeling she was the only one who would understand why I wanted to know more. But she stared at me, pain in her eyes. :'You won't find anything,' she said, 'And if you do, there are only strangers and kittypets in Twolegplace...they might not even know Ember!' :But I came anyways. And they did know Ember. And they told me to come here, to this house. His home. :His home and her. :His mate. You and I have history, or don't you remember? :"Can I help you?" she says in a polite, very feminine, and slightly confused voice. :I just look at her, not able to talk. The pain of being here...of imagining him with her...with my sister...with me...it's too much. I should've left the ghosts lie, sealed up this pain and let it sink to the bottom of the lake with my heart. Sure, she's got it all...but baby is that really what you want? :White paws, brown fur, big blue eyes...she is perfect. And Shadefall...dark, cunning, lovely Shadefall. Why would he want me? Plan old gray-with-green-eyes Fernleaf? :I just...I never thought of him as liking she-cats based on looks. But it seems kind of stupid of me to just be realizing it now. I take a deep breath and pull myself together... :"Did you know Ember?" her blue eyes search mine, "Is that why you're here?" :...only for it to be broken apart again. Bless your soul, you got your head in the clouds :Ember is laughing. Ember is telling me he loves me. Ember is smiling. Ember is sinking. Ember is dead. :"Excuse me?" the she-cat waves her tail in front of my face. "Are you okay?" :Stop day dreaming, I tell myself sadly. "Yes," I gulp, "I knew him..." :"Is he okay?" she asks worriedly. She made a fool out of you, now she's bringing you down! :Ask Shadefall, ''I want to tell her, ''Shadefall killed him. Shadefall hated him...she loved him and then she killed him. Ask her, I just want to go home and cry... She made your heart melt, but you're cold to the core... :"Because we were mates you know," she says sadly, "And he left a few days ago. He said he had something to tell me but he wanted to talk to some other cats first. And then he never came home. Have you seen him?" :I think I get it now. Ember is more then one....with Shadefall he was your typical tom- curious and dangerous like her. With me he was sweet and caring. And maybe with this she-cat he could be a kittypet. :But why? ''I shriek inside, WHY?! ''Now rumor has it she ain't got your love anymore! :The she-cat keeps going, looking down at her paws, "He went to the forest one day, about a moon ago? And he came back that night and told me he'd found some herbs and prey and things and he was going back the next day. And he kept going, once every few days." she bites her cheek, "I think he was seeing another she-cat." Bless your soul, you got your head in the clouds :"He told me he was going out hunting," she says, her eyes misting over with bitterness, "He told me that a lot. And then he never came home." she looks at me with sad eyes, the bitterness melting away, "I'm worried something's happened to him. :"Really?" my mouth is sour, "So he didn't come home for days and you never worried before now? You never thought to go after him?" :Her eyes don't flash like any normal she-cat's would. Her face just crumples and I feel bad, "Ember was too much," she says slowly, "He was so kind and handsome and strong...I think our ancestors blessed him too much. He was too much for himself." she looks at me, "Do you know what I mean?" :Her slow words jumbled together, but they did make sense. Ember was too much. He was dangerous and sarcastic, but also kind and sweet, and at the same time easy-going and handsome. He was made of walking contradictions. :I wonder if he's in StarClan now. If he's watching me now. Does he expect me to tell this she-cat what really happened or what she wants to hear- that he's fine, just coming home or something. :I look at her hopeful face and something inside me breaks. I want her to hurt like I'm hurting. If she loved him too she'll be the same as me. And since Shadefall went all vengeance crazy, I don't really have anyone to mope with. And the thought of her waiting her, with those big eyes and hopeful face, waiting for someone who will never come home...I can't do that. You made a fool out of me and boy, I'm bringing you down! '' :"He's dead," I tell her bluntly. "They killed him." I flinch and whisper, "''We ''killed him." ''You made my heart melt, but I'm cold to the core... :Her face spasms in pain and I feel like I'm looking into a pond. A pond reflecting a much prettier she-cat having the same heart-break as me over the same tom. Tears fill her eyes, but I'm done crying. Where there was love and then pain, now there is just coldness. And a desire to know who we killed. Who Ember really was. :"Fernleaf." she chokes out. :"What?" I meow in confusion. How does she...? But rumor has it I'm the one you're leaving her for. :"He mentioned your name once," she hisses, choking on her own words, the pain too large for her to bear, "It was an accident, he said he was going to go see you." :"Did he ever mention Shadefall?" I ask. :She shakes her head and I feel a warmness inside my heart, stirring the dead memories. He said my name. Not hers. Mine. Then I feel awful. I mean, I meant to come here to tell her her mate is dead and I'm responsible. I meant to ask her about him, to know more. But instead I'm just digging for compliments. :I crouch down low, meeting her eye. "I'm Fernleaf," I meow slowly, "My sister is Shadefall. We were both in love with Ember. And I think he loved us back. He's dead now." Rumor has it! Rumor has it! :She shakes her head and sniffles pathetically, "I'm Dorothy." she meows sadly, "Ember was my mate. Or at least he was." her voice narrows, her eyes sharp. :"What do you mean 'was'?" I ask in confusion. From the way she says it, it seems like they were apart before this. :"There was a time when I thought was were..." she says sadly, "But we never really were mates. No kits, nothing." Rumor has it! Rumor has it! :Something stirs inside of me. Something in her eyes is too quick to look away. "No kits?" :"Not yet," she whispers. My eyes drop to her stomach and sure enough, it's rounded, just slightly enough to suggest life inside. I expect a wave of heartbreak, but all I feel is a dull pain. Rumor has it! Rumor has it! :"He was kind to me," she says, her eyes level, "I never knew about you or your sister until now. I thought he loved me." :"He did," I meow, "I just think he loved too much, too deeply." :She nods sadly. Rumor has it! Rumor has it! :I sit back on my haunches, wondering what happens next. We have reached an uneasy friendship, a crossroads. I can go on, asking about Ember and she can ask about his death. Or I could walk away right now and forget all of this. She is half your age... But I'm guessing that's the reason that you stayed... I heard you been missing me. You've been telling people things you shouldn't be... :"What was he like?" she asks me wistfully. She is not ready to hear about his death, falling deep into water too cold for his fire. She wants to hear about romps in the forest and nights under the stars. Like when we creep out, she ain't around. :"We would go for walks," I say softly, "We would laugh under the fireflies and sleep under the stars. He tried to teach me how to swim." :"He could swim?" she tips her head. :"Yeah," there's a lump in my throat and I push away the knowledge that even swimming couldn't save him in the end. "What about here?" :Dorothy tucks her tail neatly over her paws. "He was born outside of Twolegplace, somewhere in the forest. His father lives in the forest still, his mom lives three houses down," she nods vaguely in the direction, "He was a great tom. He was always exploring, here, the forest. We were best friends. And then..." she looks at her paws and I don't press anymore there. :"What did you do together?" I ask gently. :"We tried to catch robins," she gives a garbled sob-laugh, "I could never do it, but he could. He said it tasted like the forest. We would wander around and visit our friends. We would race and climb up trees as fast as we could. We just talked some days." Haven't you heard the rumors?! :Ember is not a cat who playfully chases butterflies. He is not a tom who just wanders aimlessly around. He was someone who had plans, someone who kept promises and took life- and love- seriously. :I shake my head. I came here for answers. :But everything about Ember is just another riddle. Rumor has it! Rumor has it! :Dorothy babbles on. Rumor has it! Rumor has it! :Ember liked to play with the Twoleg kits. Rumor has it! Rumor has it! :Ember never fought. Rumor has it! Rumor has it! :Ember loved leaf-fall, it was his favorite season... All those words whispered in my ear... :She goes on and on and I vaguely remember Shadefall snapping at me to shut up about Ember. Is that part of grief? Reciting everything you know so you'll never forget it? :Only bits and pieces flit in and out of my mind. I honestly try to listen, I do. But it's hard. Tell a story that I cannot bear to hear! :"Ember liked squirrel and mouse, but not together," Dorothy prattles, "He liked roses the best, he said they smelled great...he said if he had a kit he would name him Blaze if it was a boy or Flora if it was a girl." :Everything just fits together so nicely. It's his story. Not ours, his. Before I came into it. :"Well I guess he'll be happy to know that those names will be put to good use," I snap after the kit naming remark, "Even if he isn't hear to see it." Just cause I said it doesn't mean I meant it. People say crazy things... :Dorothy's face spasms in pain and I feel awful. I remember a dream I had, the night after Ember was killed. I was by the lake, just watching the water. The my fur started to darken, getting darker and darker. And when I looked in the blood-red water, I was Shadefall. :I am not my sister. :"I'm sorry," I meow softly, sitting close enough by Dorothy to comfort her, but not to seem weird. She leans against me. Just cuase I said it don't mean I meant it Just cause you heard it... :"Why are you hear?" Dorothy asks, tears in her eyes. :"I wanted to know," I say, struggling to find the right words, "I wanted to know who...who he was. With you. Before me. Before Shadefall." :Dorothy nods and I feel better, growing under her understanding rather then withering under Shadefall's scorn. Rumor has it! :I stay the night over with her, but neither of us sleep. We spend the night crying and laughing and remembering. I know everything about Ember, from the time he opened his eyes in this world to the time he sank beneath the black surface of the lake. And Dorothy has been filled in on all the moments she missed. :I wonder if I should be angry at him. Three she-cats, heart-broken because a tom dies, leaving them with only each other to blame. But I can't hate the dead, not the way Shadefall can. Maybe that's how it will be now. Shadefall will hate and I will remember and Dorothy will just try to go on. Rumor has it! :When the sun creeps over the horizon, I bid Dorothy farewell. "Thank you," I meow warmly. :"You too," she meows, "And..." she pauses. There is only enough light to make out pain in her eyes...but hope as well. :"Yes?" :"The kit," she whispers, "His name will be Spark." :I nod, "I'll come back to meet him. I promise," Rumor has it! :I always imagined returning from this trip even more heart-broken then before, just relieved of some of my crushing guilt. But I am almost...not happy. But on the way there. And why shouldn't I? Ember is gone, but we are still here. Soon there will be a little Ember, a Spark. I met Dorothy and now I know... :Now I know what? Rumor has it! :That Ember had another she-cat? :That he has a kit? :The Dorothy was like me? :What? Rumor has it! :I trot back into RiverClan territory and smile. It's been days since I've been here, but it seems like much longer. Rumor has it! :I pad over to the lake and stand stiffly there, my fur ruffling slightly in the cold breeze coming off the lake. I think of Ember's body, down there somewhere...but he's not there, he's in StarClan. :That makes me feel a little better. Rumor has it! '' :I begin to whisper, everything. ''Rumor has it! :"You like to swim, you love the fireflies, you played with Twoleg kits, I loved you..." Rumor has it! :I hear something in the bushes, but I don't turn my head. This is too important for some random squirrel. Rumor has it! :Then I shriek. The squirrel darts past me, missing my ear by inches. A white streak follows it and I yowl again as both the white cat and I land in the water. Rumor has it! :Ever since Ember, I've had a healthy fear of drowning. But the water is only high enough to drench me. I gasp and hiss at the tom...who's actually Icefur, a tom in RiverClan. I stop mid-hiss and meet his icy blue eyes uncertainly. Rumor has it! :He grins, "Fernleaf, you're back!" then he tips his head, "Oops...sorry about that. Squirrel." :And he just looks so unabashedly funny, I just have to laugh. And I do. He joins in. And my fur feels hot as I remember something Dorothy said. :Life is too short for waiting and wishing. I will love my kit when it comes and you've got to find love too. Ember is dead, but you are not. Keep living. '' ''Rumor has it! :Icefur smiles, "You want to grab a squirrel before we head back to camp?" I hesitate and he laughs, "I promise I won't tackle you into any more lakes." :I laugh and nod. But rumor has it he's the one I'm leaving you for. Next up: Set Fire to the Rain!!! Category:Artimas Hunter's Fanfics